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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

I've been a good roach mommy and overwhelmingly successful roach rancher! I now have a surplus of 4 month old hissers (1" to 1.5" long) that need a new home. Another 2 months and these young ones will be breeders, so you can start your own colony of these slow-moving easy-care pets.

They are going for $2 each. I'll ship to anywhere in the US for $4.80 (USPS Priority 2-3 business days).

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Oh boy did it pour! There was a decent turnout despite the poor weather and we received about 200 visitors. About 85 choco chirpies were consumed, with many kids coming back for more. The Roach Races were the highlights of the Fest. There were 46 roach 'adoptions' for the 3 races held to crowds of 30 people each time. Enigma the 'underdog racer' won all three races, and 13 prices were awarded to those who picked Enigma. The Bug Petting Zoo was one station where visitors learnt about Giant Millipedes. I feel it is important they know that these bugs are beneficial, harmless, and ‘good bugs’. I wanted visitors to overcome misperceived fear of bugs, know that there are ‘good bugs’, and touch a bug. Winner of the 'Leg's Guess Contest' was Ahmed Mansour who took home a grand prize of 1 VO family pass, 2 t-shirts and a cap. Prizes were also mailed to winners of the Bug Art Competition. Thanks to all the volunteers!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

This half-day program sponsored by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh was an absolutely fantastic time for children and their parents. Children loved petting Archie the giant millipede and Madagascar Hissing Roaches. The "Leg's Guess Contest" winner was Gabbi M. who received a free adult & child pass to CMP and an insect collecting kit. Choco chirpie vendor for the day, Angela Seals (CMP program director) sold 150 crickets! Mmmm. The two roach races were held to a full capacity crowd of 100 each time and the atmosphere was electrifying as participants cheered on their roach choices. Barbaro and Big Mama won the 1st and 2nd race respectively and 60 prizes were given out to the 'adoptive' winners. Thanks so much to veteran bug wrangler volunteer Tristan Laux, and Angela Seals for giving Fun with Bugs the opportunity to visit the CMP.

This was a fun educational nature-oriented activity where kids gained hands-on know-how on making an insect collection. We had 13 very enthusiastic budding young naturalists join us today, ages 5 - 14. We started off with a simple pictorial slideshow 'All about Insects' that talked about the scientific importance of collecting and studying insects, where to find and how to collect and preserve insects.

Then everyone picked up a net, a collecting jar and went bug hunting! The warm, sunny day had the area around the ELC a-buzz and a-flutter with many common butterflies, (true) bugs, beetles, flies and bees. Each kid collected one or two insects and these were gently put to 'sleep' in the freezer back at the ELC. After some light refreshments, which included the ever-popular chocolate-covered crickets, everyone had the opportunity to pet Millie the Giant Millipede, and the Madagascar Hissing Roaches. (Bryce, who had previously chomped down milk-choco chirpies wanted a plain one this time, but we were all out. So he improvised by licking all the choc off his chirpie and said "here now I have a plain one" and ate that!). Finally, we learnt how to correctly pin and label our insects.

Insect collecting can be a fun and rewarding hobby for all ages, and also a valuable contribution to science!

Thank you to Rich, Spencer, parents who helped out; Ariana, Tristan and Laurel who helped with the bug gift shop, choc chirpie station and bug petting zoo; and all the participants in today's program!

Insect Quick Lesson:

There are 200 million insects to every human on Earth.

Collecting one or two of each type of insect will not hurt its populations.

Insects do not feel pain but are living creatures that should be respected - killing an insect for your collection should be done quickly and humanely. (See my book "How to Make an Insect Collection" for details).

Saturday, May 16, 2009

What a fabulously fun day of creepy crawly activities this was in the Insect Room at the ELC!

The Bug Petting Zoo featuring my Madagascar hissing cockroaches and Archie and Millie the Giant Millipedes, was a huge hit, especially with the children. Some were hesitant at first, but almost everyone ended up petting these harmless, slow-moving vegetarians. It felt great to see minds open up to the fact that not all bugs are nasty, and many bugs are beneficial. A big thank you to volunteer Bug Wranglers: Tristan, Justin, Cory and Ariana.

Volunteer bug wrangler Justin, and Archie the Giant Millipede team up
to show girls that bugs are cool pets!

The beautiful pinned insect specimens attracted hordes of admirers. Butterflies and moths, beetles, bees and other unusual insects were displayed. Thank you CMNH for the loan.

'The Bug Doctor is IN' section received several requests to identify insect pests. I was very happy to help suggest safer ways to control these pests.

Over 80 brave Bug Eaters ranging from 'trainee' to 'pro' and 'guru' levels chowed down on the Choco Chirpies (chocolate covered crickets). Among the 'Gurus' was a little girl who gobbled four plain crickets (legs and all), and Mike who filled up on eight and even ordered a dozen to go! It was awesome seeing so many folks walking around the fair proudly wearing their 'I ATE A BUG' button-of-courage.

'CHEERS!' Three adventurous ladies toast Choco Chirpies before
munching on the tasty treats

The highlight of the Insect Activities was the Roach Races. These were held at 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm. We had a fourth race at 3.30pm by popular demand! The atmosphere was electrifying: kids and grown ups cheering on the roaches they had adopted for the race. And the happy faces of winners as they stepped up to collect their prize. Big Mama, Barbaro and Lola each won one race, and Big Mama was the champion in the final showdown. Thank you to all Roach Racers for your donations that will go towards improving the Harrison Hills Park facilities!

Volunteer Ariana posing with the Roach Race Track

To all who volunteered, especially Mom, Dad, Spencer, Ariana, Carver and Courtney, a huge Thank You.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

This article deals with creeply crawly gate-crashers and exposes their hide-outs in your home sweet home.

Feed the need
Like humans, pests have basic needs and these include food, water and shelter. We may be tempting the critters with five star digs and bountiful banquets without even realizing it. There’s probably a pest for every nook and cranny in an average home, and some sort of food suited to the pickiest pest palate. Fabric moths snack on your clothes, pantry pests such as flour beetles love flour, silverfish munch on books, and blood-sucking mosquitoes, fleas and bedbugs have a taste for warm human blood. Roaches, ants and flies are the least fussy eaters and would be more than happy to polish off your scraps and garbage.
Pests, problem ‘pets’
Pests aren’t big eaters, individually, because they are small. A stale breadcrumb is a scrumptious supper for a cockroach and a grain of sugar is a delightful dessert for an ant. The problem arises when Mrs Roach makes 150 new baby mouths to feed, or when Missy Ant crawls

This article advises against rearing house flies as pets and explores some interesting house fly facts relevant to its control.
Different folks different strokes
Flies are a large and extremely diverse group of insects, including beneficial predators such as the robber flies and hover flies, nectar-feeding pollinating bee-flies and even bot flies that snack on human flesh. The fly group also includes mosquitoes, house flies (discussed here) and other common pest flies.
A filthy stalker
The house fly (Musca domestica) is a common cosmopolitan pest. This domesticated human-loving critter likes to hang out in and around our homes. It is quite the stalker, having followed humans to the farthest reaches of the planet. While it wants nothing more than to share our food and is even content to dine on our scraps, house flies don’t make very good pets for the average homeowner. For one, these two-winged beasties can transmit some nasty stomach bugs such as Salmonella, Shigella and Escherichia that could lay you out for days, or worse. This is also true for most common pest flies except the blood-feeding stable flies, which aren’t disease carriers.

Flies have bad table manners
Flies aren’t finicky feeders and love a varied diet of organic materials such as manure, garbage and your home-made meal, on occasion. Sharing food with a fly wouldn’t be so bad if it didn’t have such unrefined table manners. Flies have an offensive habit of vomiting on their (or your) dinner, then

This article will give you the lowdown on the mosquito’s attraction to the human race, why this love is unrequited, and how to avoid donating blood to these leechers.
A one-sided love affair
Mosquitoes have had a thing for humans for thousands of years. The human-loving tendencies of these winged whiners have not been reciprocated however. Despite repeated rejection and death threats, they keep coming back to plant unwanted kisses on us. There being about 3000 species of mosquitoes makes for an interesting range of body-part preferences. The conservative ones stick to a quick peck on the cheek while some exhibit foot fetishes. Anopheles and Culex mosquitoes sneak smoochies at dusk and after dark while Aedes mosquitoes favor public daytime displays of affection. These mini molesters share a common modus operandi – they furtively insert their syringe-like mouths into your flesh and pump in itch-inducing anti-clotting saliva while taking their fill of you.
Mosquitoes aren’t very bright
A mosquito’s itty bitty brain, housed in its teeny tiny head, weighs way less than its 2.5 mg body. It’s not much of a thinker since it has very limited neuronal processing abilities. However, these featherweights are hardwired to

This article will explain why bedbugs are so good at sucking human blood, how to recognize a bedbug infestation, and how to reclaim your sleep haven from these blood-sucking critters.

Bedbugs are covert operations specialists
Few creatures can match the stealth of the bedbug in extracting a human bloodmeal. Under the cover of darkness, it silently crawls from a nearby hiding place to seek its next victim. A sleeping human, warm and exhaling carbon dioxide, is the preferred fare of this flat, apple-seed-like insect. It painlessly pierces the skin with a syringe-like mouth then proceeds to engorge itself with blood. The victim feels nothing during those few minutes he or she is feasted upon. An adult female can make lots of bedbug babies after a bloodmeal, totaling 400 eggs in a lifetime. Given the right conditions, these offspring become adults in two months.

Recognizing bedbug bites
Bedbugs are fidgety feeders, and usually leave a tell-tale three welt track on the skin of the victim. Unlike flea bites, which have a characteristic spot in the center, bedbug bites look more like

Is there is such a thing as a ‘good’ termite? This article will reveal the little known good side of these insects, what gets them in our bad books, and how homeowners unwittingly invite termites into their homes.
Most termites are good guys

Termites are the ultimate recyclers.
Over 2000 species of termites can be found between latitude 50°N and 50°S, and more than 90% of these would never consider your home a tasty snack. Some termite species farm their own mushrooms and about half of all termite species actually eat dirt. The rest are miniature wood-digesting ‘machines’ that specialize in recycling of dead trees in forests. A termite first shreds wood with its powerful jaws, and swallows the lot. In its gut, an enzyme-rich soup breaks down the wood fibers and releases energy that the termite uses. The end result is fertile termite poo returned to Mother Nature, and less dead wood lying around that could fuel forest fires.
Termites provide sustenance.
Termites are an important part of the food chain. Ants, birds, geckos, aardvarks and chimps eat them. Some African tribespeople feast on lightly-roasted termites, which have a nutty flavor and are rich in fat. In some parts of Asia, the termite queen is traditionally sought after and eaten live to cure asthma. And a delicious fungus that grows only from mounds of the mushroom-farming termites mentioned above.

Which houses taste good to which termites?

Which termites?
If you are living in the USA, the name of your termite invader is likely

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Summary of Post
How to identify aphid infestations on your potted goji plants. And how to get rid of these pesky sap sucking insects.

The Attack of the AphidsI started my Goji Berry Germinating Endeavour in the fall of 2008, way before I potted my mint, basil, pepper, strawberry and other plants to bring indoors over winter. Unbeknownst to me, a mama aphid had hitched a ride on one of these plants, into my home sweet home. Aphids have a incredible propensity for making babies. If you were to examine my mama aphid under a very powerful microscope, you could see her baby developing inside her, and her baby's baby developing inside her baby. (Freaky huh?). These ladies don't even need Mr Aphid to reproduce (Nonono, it's not what you think. No lady lovin' - these critters are Asexual. Some aphid life cycle info here). After two weeks I started noticing some tiny yellowish bugs the size of a pin head, on my basil (see aphid enlarged pic at right). I squashed them with my fingers, hoping for the best, but knowing deep deep within my heart that I would soon be facing the challenge of my career.

I am embarrassed to admit, I should have known better being an entomologist and all - Quarantine Quarantine Quarantine. (This means that when one brings potted plants indoors, one should isolate these plants from existing house plants for a week or two until one is extremely sure there are no six legged pests lurking and skulking on the newbies).

Aphid Explosion
Within a month the aphids and their daughters were the majority in my home. I was outnumbered 1000 to 1. They preferred some plants over others, and for a while I thought my goji plants were not going to be harassed. Ah woe!